Prologue
The bookstore was full of young people, and Andy regretted choosing her lunch break as the best time to try and pick up a book for Lily. Her best friend since college had a birthday coming up and Andy had just managed to grab the last copy of the art book Lily coveted. Now she just had to maneuver the throngs of teenagers in school uniforms.
As serendipity would have it, she recognized the uniforms about two seconds before a young voice said, "Andy? Andy Sachs?"
Pivoting, and not without dread in her heart, Andy stood staring at an older, very Priestly twin. After a few more seconds of scrutiny, Andy took a chance. "Caroline?"
The redhead before her, now with long, flat ironed shiny hair, smiled broadly. "Yes!" She stepped closer and Andy had the feeling that if Caroline hadn't been carrying four thick books, she might have hugged her. "I can't believe it's you after all this time."
Andy could hardly believe it either. Then she realized she was closer to Daltons as she'd had to go to a different bookstore for Lily's present. "You must be a sophomore?"
"I am. We are. Just wait until I let Cass know I ran into you. She'll be so jealous." Caroline leaned her hip against a table filled with crime novels. "Now that you and I have met like this, we should all get together." She crinkled her nose. "It's that or I'm never going to hear the end of it from Cass."
"And by us you mean…?" Andy kept her smile in place, but an entire flock of butterflies erupted in her stomach.
"You, me, and Cass, of course. Perhaps at a coffee house. Or you could come to the house." Caroline tapped her lower lip in a way that reminded Andy so much of Miranda, she could barely breathe. Damn, that hit out of nowhere.
"I wouldn't mind catching up, but you forget that I left Runway under less-than-ideal circumstances." Andy attempted yet another smile but had a feeling it might have been more of a regretful grimace.
"Oh, but that was a lifetime ago!" Caroline shifted her books precariously over to her left arm and hooked her right around Andy's arm.
For a girl who was eleven four years ago, yes, it might seem like a lifetime. For Andy, it seemed only a very short while ago, and she had fought hard to overcome the heartbreak of it all. Leaving Miranda in Paris was hardly her finest hour, and neither had it been Miranda's no matter what her motives had been.
"I know!" Caroline shook Andy's arm as she beamed, clearly pleased with whatever idea she had come up with. Andy suspected, and not without reason, that Miranda's girls had not become less clever with age, and they had been quite out of the ordinary four years ago.
"Mom's hosting a special gala at the Met on Saturday. It's not like the usual Met Gala, it's still for charity, but this is Mom's initiative and Runway is the main contributor. She said Cassidy and I are old enough to come, and that we could bring a friend each. I asked my best friend Verity, but she was whisked away to a boarding school in Switzerland out of the blue, which makes me think she's in trouble somehow. I hope it's just for smoking weed, and not being pregnant. I mean, she should have told me if it was that right?"
Andy looked dazedly at Caroline. "Is there a point to this?" She tried to follow Caroline's reasoning.
"Yes. I told you. Verity can't come, but you can be my plus one!" Grinning now, Caroline did a little jig. "Cassidy will kiss my feet when I tell her this."
"But I can't barge in uninvited—"
"You're not uninvited. I'm inviting you. My plus one!" Caroline looked expectantly at Andy, and suddenly her freckled face turned serious. "We truly missed you. Mom came home from Paris, and it took us all but two seconds to realize we shouldn't ask about you. She couldn't care less about us asking about Stephen, but your name was out of the question. That made us curious. Of course, it did. Eventually, we managed to get Nigel alone at the office and asked him."
Andy was afraid to ask what Nigel had said, so she repeated her initial objection. "That only proves that of all the people in New York, I'm probably the last one your mother wants to show up unannounced to her gala."
"Please, Andy. I think if you and Mom were in the same room, with witnesses, you would both see that all that Paris stuff is water under the bridge. And it would mean so much. You were always the coolest and sweetest of Mom's assistants. You helped us with so much more than Mom ever knew at the time. Cass and I have figured that out over the years. Please, Andy."
To meet Miranda in a setting where Andy wouldn't be eviscerated, tossed out from the window of a tall building…was it possible? This could be her one chance to find out what seeing Miranda after four years felt like. And if she lived through it, because, honestly, who knew, she might just get the closure that could set her on the path of finding something more than she had allowed herself since then. Lily lovingly called her 'the serial dater,' as first dates and occasional one-night stands, though the last year not even that, was all Andy could manage.
Before she talked herself out of this daring move on her part, Andrea smiled at Caroline and said, "All right. Why not? Text me the time and where to meet you. And oh—what's the dress code?"
"You're joking right?" Caroline snorted. "Designer clothes from the best."
Damn. Well, she still had some nice things that she hadn't worn in four years. "See you on Saturday, then, Caro. Can I just ask you to not tell your mother?"
"Oh, what a great idea. A surprise!" Caroline held her hand up for a high-five. "Your phone number?" She handed her phone over.
Andy entered her number and soon her phone pinged when Caroline texted her.
"I put you down as SA in case Mom checks our phones. She has this rule that until we're eighteen, we have no privacy." Caroline didn't seem to mind much, but as a true Priestly rolled her eyes at the state of things.
When they parted ways, Andy told herself it wasn't too late to change her mind. A scornful little voice in the back of her head asked her whom she was trying to fool. There was no way she would pass up on seeing Miranda, no matter the outcome.
Part 1
Miranda stood just inside the double doors, greeting her guests—or the guests worth greeting, which were the ones with the thickest wallets. She knew it was a cynical thought, but it was for charity after all. It wouldn't be clever to spend as much time schmoozing the ones who weren't going to be able to write the biggest checks. There were of course exceptions to her 'fat check' rule. She would never overlook the ones at Runway who made tonight possible. Not just because she wanted them to do this again next year, but because they had truly set her up for success tonight. She was well aware that she only had to show up and schmooze. Her team had done everything else.
She saw Cassidy with her best friend, Benny, a boy from her class at Dalton. He had been in her girls' circle of friends since they started first grade. Looking for Caroline, Miranda couldn't help but wonder what had happened to Verity, the other friend from the circle who was now suddenly transferred to an all-girls school in Switzerland. She would have to send out a few feelers as she truly wanted to know as Caroline was going to miss the girl.
Miranda couldn't see Caroline and hoped she wasn't completely bored or hiding because she was upset that her friend had left.
More people lined up, and Miranda smiled, greeted, shook hands, and air kissed until she was almost ready to feign a headache. This was her baby, this charity, and she had fought the board of directors every step of the way. Surprisingly, it had been Irv Ravitz's wife, Annette, who had sealed the deal. Miranda had never taken the time to get to know the woman, but she owed her for smacking some sense into her husband. Annette Ravitz probably deserved a medal for living with the man for more than forty years.
Miranda heard a burst of laughter she would have recognized anywhere and knew she had to be hallucinating. She had probably said the same phrases over and over again until it frayed her brain. Looking down the line of people ushered by her team to greet her, while others were ushered straight into the ballroom, she saw Caroline's red hair about ten people down.
Relieved that Caroline was in the room, Miranda kept greeting the rich and famous, her smile as brilliant as it was fake. She heard Caroline talk and wondered who she may have come across that she knew.
And then it all made sense. She wasn't prone to hallucinating, and she hadn't been this time either. That laughter could only belong to one person, and that person now stood before her, next to Caroline.
"Good evening, Miranda," Andrea Sachs said and held out her hand. Miranda took it automatically.
"Surprise, Mom!" Caroline looked happy.
"It sure is," Miranda said slowly. "Good evening, Andrea." She realized she was still holding Andrea's hand and quickly let go. "I'm fairly sure nobody from the Mirror was invited to this gala."
Andrea looked calm but didn't offer a smile, merely held Miranda's gaze. "No one from the Mirror is ever invited to a Runway function of any kind, so that's probably true."
Narrowing her eyes, Miranda sized this slightly older Andrea up. Gone were the nervous finger-tugging tick, and her habit of straightening her bangs. She wore a Vera Wang dress that were at least four years old. Probably exactly four years old, considering it was one of the dresses Nigel had gifted Andrea for another Runway function. It hugged every curve and complimented Andrea's skin perfectly. She carried a simple clutch that could be from Walmart for all Miranda knew. The shoes were Prada from two years ago.
"She's my plus one, Mom. You said I could bring a friend, and I saw Andy in a bookstore two days after Verity left…" Caroline's smile began to lose its brilliance, and as Miranda would hate to see it disappear completely, she stepped closer to Andrea and kissed the air next to her cheek, but a lot closer than she'd done with anyone else.
"You are of course welcome, Andrea. No doubt, Cassidy will be just as excited to see you."
"Thank you, Miranda," Andrea said and then Caroline took her hand and pulled her toward the corner where Cassidy and Benny stood watching them.
Miranda went through the last five in line to be greeted personally and then hurried toward the restroom her team had secured for her alone. She pulled the card through the slot, and stepped inside, locking the door behind her.
Andrea Sachs at her function. After four years of suppressed memories, when she had settled for prioritizing her girls, and her magazine, and lately, the charities that meant something to her. It hadn't been a bad life, the last four years, not at all. She had watched her girls go from elementary school girls to teenagers who excelled academically and musically, Caroline, and in photography, Cassidy.
She had dated every now and then, but boredom and reluctance at having someone touching her had made such occurrences less and less frequent. Now it had been over a year—and she hadn't even been tempted.
Walking up to the sink, she studied her reflection. The Oscar de la Renta dress was a step outside of her comfort zone as she normally wore black or dark colors, but tonight the pattern of gradient colors along with the fabric rendered her a more than usual flattering line. The asymmetric neckline left one shoulder bare, and the colors shifted from soft yellow, to gold and over to the loveliest green.
Miranda grimaced at how flustered she looked. Opening her clutch, she took some of the powder foundation and dabbed it on her cheeks and neck. Better. Her daughters would notice, and, God, so would Andrea. A lot must have changed when it came to her, but not her sharp eye when it came to details. There was a reason she had become so good at her job as Miranda's assistant so quickly, despite her initial disdain for fashion, and it was just that. Details.
"Fuck," Miranda whispered and applied some gloss over her lipstick. She couldn't stay in the restroom any longer. She had to enter the room that had turned into a ballroom as this was a combined cocktail and dance function. Miranda had reconciled that she would have to dance with at least five to ten men this evening, and that would set the greeting process in a much more favorable light.
She made sure her iconic hairdo was in perfect order and then left the restroom. She was going to get through this evening, and she was going to make it a success. Any other outcome was unthinkable. Miranda Priestly did not let her guard down—and she did not fail.
#
"See? It went well with Mom," Caroline said and sipped her soda. "She was fine."
"I'm not sure she was fine, but she was polite." Andy shrugged and drank from her champagne. "I'll take polite. Polite's good."
"It's really great to see you," Cassidy said. She had thrown herself into Andy's arms when she came within reach.
It was heartwarming to see both the Priestly twins react much the same way to reconnect with her. Andy found that she had missed them, and their very agile minds, and supposed she just hadn't allowed herself to think about them much, perhaps because it was yet another dimension of what she had lost access to when she walked away from Miranda in Paris. She had walked away from these girls who had confided in her, secretly called her when they were upset, and whose homework she had gone from doing to assisting with.
"See?" Caroline looked over Andy's shoulder and grinned. "I knew I was right. Mom's coming over."
Shit. Andy had been sure she'd been through the worst since she and Caroline had been ushered into the 'greet Miranda Priestly' line.
"I hope you are enjoying yourselves, Bobbseys, and taking good care of your guests," Miranda said from behind, and Andy had to turn around and keep being…well, polite too, she supposed.
"We are, Mom." Cassidy bumped her hip against Benny. "Aren't we?"
"Sure," poor Benny said and blushed. "This is a great event, Mrs. Priestly."
"Miranda, please, Benny." Miranda gave the boy her blinding, true smile.
The kid swallowed hard. "Sch-sure, Miranda. Thanks." It was obvious to Andy that he struggled and stumbled over Miranda's name.
"And how about you, Andrea? Are you enjoying yourself?" Miranda's smile was more like that time when Andy had corrected her for the first and last time for calling her Emily. Sharklike and mocking.
"It's a wonderful turnout with all the right people. I know I don't fall into that category, but it's wonderful to connect with the girls again."
Miranda's eyes narrowed again, and chills ran down Andy's spine. She had poked the Dragon, and she had no idea how to undo it. It was probably a moot point, as Miranda had a long memory and was infamous for how long she could hold a grudge. Rumor had it that there were people who wronged her two decades ago who still slept with one eye open.
Violins played a slow, sultry melody, and Andy saw a handsome man in his sixties lengthen his stride as he homed in on Miranda. She knew who he was. A multi-millionaire who was just the people Miranda was meant to tap into, so to speak, tonight. Someone with the ability to contribute to the charity who would benefit from Runway's initiative. Andy had looked it up at work, and of all the things she had thought Miranda had gotten involved with, it sure wasn't research and healthcare for people suffering from different eating disorders.
"May I have this dance, Miranda," the man asked as he sidled beside her. At the same time, he let his eyes rake down Andy's body, which made her stomach turn. What a jerk. Clearly, money didn't buy decorum.
"I'm so sorry, Colin, but I just asked Andrea for this dance," Miranda said so smoothly it took Andy a good five seconds to register the impossible words.
"Andrea?" Colin looked dumbfounded and then turned his gaze to Andy again. "You…Miranda, you're…"
"Yes. Exactly." Miranda sent him yet another dazzling smile while she extended her hand to Andy. "Andrea?"
Andy could hear her words from more than four years ago. 'No, no. That wasn't a question.' Not sure how it happened and only vaguely aware of the twins' big smiles, she took Miranda's hand.
Continued in part 2.